Liquid Crystals in Electric Field

TL;DR

This paper develops a comprehensive theory describing how electric fields influence liquid crystal behavior, including director fluctuations and deformation around charged particles, with predictions for these effects.

Contribution

It introduces a general theoretical framework for electric field effects in liquid crystals considering dielectric tensor dependence on orientation.

Findings

Predictions for director fluctuation behavior in electric fields.

Analysis of nematic order deformation around charged particles.

General theory applicable to various dielectric anisotropies.

Abstract

We present a general theory of electric field effects in liquid crystals where the dielectric tensor depends on the orientation order. As applications, we examine (i) the director fluctuations in nematic states in electric field for arbitrary strength of the dielectric anisotropy and (ii) deformation of the nematic order around a charged particle. Some predictions are made for these effects.